Like other African "barbs", placement of this species in Barbus – the genus of the typical barbels and relatives – was provisional. Though called "barbel", it is probably not closely enough related to the typical barbels – the core group of Barbus – to be considered congeneric. Several supposedly distinct species have been merged into B. altianalis, and numerous subspecies have been proposed. None of these are deemed valid. Some authorities place this species in the genus Labeobarbus. On the other hand, B. longifilis, B. paucisquamatus and B. somereni were once considered subspecies of L: altianalis, the second as sspp. lobogenysoides and paucisquamata and the third as ssp. urundensis.[2]
L. procatopus was described from the Amala River, which was mistakenly believed to be to the east of Lake Baringo. The Ripon barbel does not occur there, and the taxon was thus thought to refer to Labeobarbus intermedius. But the Amala is actually a tributary of the Mara River, where L. altianalis is found, and L. procatopus is thus a junior synonym of it.[1]
Widespread and apparently rather plentiful for such a large fish due to its ecological tolerance and omnivorous habits, the Ripon barbel is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. Local stocks might be temporarily affected by erosion after deforestation increasing turbidity and upsetting the aquatic plant life, and unsustainable growth of the fisheries e.g. along the Kagera must be avoided considering that it is presumably – as per its large size and like many relatives – slow-growing and takes long to mature.[1]
de Graaf, Martin; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Samallo, Johannis & Sibbing, Ferdinand A. (2007): Evolutionary origin of Lake Tana's (Ethiopia) small Barbus species: indications of rapid ecological divergence and speciation. Anim. Biol.57(1): 39-48. doi:10.1163/157075607780002069 (HTML abstract)
